Intentions to Marry, 1919 Kaikoura to Christchurch

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840485, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1919 is bound in seven volumes (a to g) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1919e contains pages 2001-2520, covering districts from Kaikoura to Christchurch

Page 2509

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1919

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

1013

19 December 1919

William Copeland
Amy Elizabeth Bennett

William Copeland
Amy Elizabeth Bennett
💍 1920/4

Widower January 1914
Spinster

Civil Servant
Nurse

36
33

Woolston
Opawa

10 months
2 months

St Mark's Church Opawa

7495

19 December 1919

Rev. A. Williams, Anglican

No	1013
Date of Notice	19 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Copeland	Amy Elizabeth Bennett
	💍 1920/4
Condition	Widower January 1914	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant	Nurse
Age	36	33
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Opawa
Length of Residence	10 months	2 months
Marriage Place	St Mark's Church Opawa
Folio	7495
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Williams, Anglican

1014

19 December 1919

John Christie Henderson
Frances Ruth Olive Mary Buick

John Christie Henderson
Frances Ruth Olive Mary Buick
💍 1919/5220

Bachelor
Spinster

Tile Manufacturer
Cook

33
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 years
25 years

St. Barnabas Church Fendalton

7496

19 December 1919

Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

No	1014
Date of Notice	19 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Christie Henderson	Frances Ruth Olive Mary Buick
	💍 1919/5220
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tile Manufacturer	Cook
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church Fendalton
Folio	7496
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

1015

20 December 1919

Wesley Trevurza
Alice Gertrude Griffin

Wesley Trevurza
Alice Gertrude Griffin
💍 1919/7897

Widower April 21, 1918
Widow December 19, 1915

Blacksmith
Teacher of Music

50
47

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
8 years

Residence of Mrs. Griffin 133 Sherborne Street, St Albans

7497

20 December 1919

Rev. W. C. Oliver, Methodist

No	1015
Date of Notice	20 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wesley Trevurza	Alice Gertrude Griffin
	💍 1919/7897
Condition	Widower April 21, 1918	Widow December 19, 1915
Profession	Blacksmith	Teacher of Music
Age	50	47
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Griffin 133 Sherborne Street, St Albans
Folio	7497
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. C. Oliver, Methodist

1016

20 December 1919

Randal Carl Reither
Elizabeth Ida Baunton

Randall Carl Neither
Elizabeth Ida Baunton
💍 1919/7898

Bachelor
Divorced Decree absolute Dated 11th December 1919

Cycle and Motor Mechanic

21
25

St. Albans
Christchurch

5 years
25 years

Residence of Mrs. Taylor 287 Madras Street, Christchurch

7498

20 December 1919

Rev. J. H. G. Chapple, Unitarian

No	1016
Date of Notice	20 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Randal Carl Reither	Elizabeth Ida Baunton
BDM Match (95%)	Randall Carl Neither	Elizabeth Ida Baunton
	💍 1919/7898
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced Decree absolute Dated 11th December 1919
Profession	Cycle and Motor Mechanic
Age	21	25
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Taylor 287 Madras Street, Christchurch
Folio	7498
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. G. Chapple, Unitarian

1017

20 December 1919

Douglas Norris Prior (to Deed Poll Bratzer)
Ethel Fright

Douglas Norris
Ethel Fright
💍 1919/7899

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Shop Assistant

25
28

St. Martins
Waltham

22 months
28 years

Residence of Rev. C. H. Carr 2 Frederick Street, Linwood

7499

20 December 1919

Rev. C. H. Carr, Congregational

No	1017
Date of Notice	20 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Norris Prior (to Deed Poll Bratzer)	Ethel Fright
BDM Match (66%)	Douglas Norris	Ethel Fright
	💍 1919/7899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Shop Assistant
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	St. Martins	Waltham
Length of Residence	22 months	28 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. C. H. Carr 2 Frederick Street, Linwood
Folio	7499
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Carr, Congregational

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).